Most writers struggle with plots, or, rather, with storylines. Some people can generate Byzantine plots that aren't a story, while others construct elaborate stories with the thinnest of plots. Supposedly there are only 14 to 20 plots, such as: 1. "Boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy builds girl" 2. "Hero has treasure, loses treasures, regains treasure." Having said that, I admit I've never seen a list of those fourteen to twenty plots. In most cases, there is confusion between a plot, a plot-line, and a story. If any story is broken down to bare, really bare bones, there are probably many plots and subplots, but really just one story. We think of the events within a story as a plot, when actually it's much simpler than that. The story is actually the characters, setting, and the series of missteps, accidents, misadventures, and disasters that occur to stretch the plot out into a story. The plot is easy, sort of, but the story is hard. The story emerges when you add in characters, themes, settings, etc. Plots aren't so simple, even in microfiction. These days there are loads of so-called “plot generators” online. Most are meant for a laugh or to act as a prompt. But to be accurate, the plot generators really only generate a premise. A premise is where a plot, and then a story, develops. Once you've generated some of those weird plot ideas, you can see the difference between a plot and a story. Most of the plot generators are not going to create the next bestseller. I’m not even sure it can generate even a basic, straightforward story. I must confess, however, that it might create a bizarro or Monty Python-esque story. For example, I recently generated enough pieces, that when I put them together and edited the repetitive bits that I could actually compose a bizarro pulp parody, "Iowa Million and the Raters of the Lost Auk." Now this is a "supposedly lost story" by the not-so-great Edgar Rice Krispies, a fictional really bad writer I created a while back and have since created all sorts of silly stuff about him. About twenty years ago I actually published a non-fact article about ERK in a old issue of the defunct semi-pro Amazing Adventures. Plot generators are certainly an interesting thing to play around with, though. Some brief plots I generated on Seventh Sanctum (or maybe Warp Core, can’t recall which) include these: 1. The action begins in a underwater bunker. A light-fingered writer and an alcoholic warlord are attracted to each other. But she is enslaved by another species. Eventually they are united in death. 2. The action begins in an icy planet. A lithe outcast and an old musician are betrothed. But their people are at war with each other. Finally they wonder what they could have been thinking. 3. A businesswoman is turned into a snake. Can she convince a rogue astral traveller to restore her? **** A zombie site, whose name I can’t remember off-hand, gave me these two ‘plot’ ideas: 1.A dyslexic zombie and a Navy seal go on a date. 2. A Puerto Rican zombie gets stood up by the ex-husband of a novelist in virtual reality. **** My favorite, however, may well be Plot Generator, a UK-based site. It’s the most fun because it offers five categories in which to generate plots and you get to decide what items go into it. You can generate Romance, Crime, Mystery, Teen Vampire, and Bronte Sisters plots, and each comes with a simulated paperback cover. Now, in truth, what is being generated is not so much a plot as it is jacket-flap copy, included "selected" endorsements from various sources. But it doesn't mean it's not fun. Here for example is a teenage vampire story it generated. Stephanie Myers, beware! | ||
Vampire in Elkhorn, a teen vampire story by Sally Grubb There's a funny new girl in Elkhorn and she has everybody talking. Stunningly buxom and devastatingly plump, all the girls want her. However, Sarah Mittle has a secret - she's an impulsive vampire. Camille LeFanu is an even-tempered, lanky girl who enjoys stamp collecting. She becomes fascinated by Sarah, who can stop a sledgehammer with her bare hands. | ||
But she doesn't understand why Sarah's so stand-offish. Her bestfriend, a kind golem called Harvey, helps Camille begin to piece together the puzzle. Together, they discover the ultimate anti-vampire weapon - a smooth, hard stilleto. When bodies start turning up all over Elkhorn, Camille begins to fear the worst. The golem urges her to report Sarah to the police and she knows she should, so what's stopping her? She may resist Sarah's bite, but can she resist her charms? Will she be caught wrestling with the vampire? **** Maybe I'd even read this next one myself. | ||
Transmission Investigates a crime thriller by N.S. Anthony Mangled fingers have been turning up all over Berlin and the inhabitants are scared. Ten murders in ten weeks, all committed with a samurai sword, and still nobody has a clue who the egotistical killer is. Manuel Transmission is a heavy set and single-minded art teacher with a fondness for absinthe. He doesn't know it yet but he is the only one who can stop the narcissistic killer. When his dominatrix, Natalie Dressed, is kidnapped, Transmission finds himself thrown into the centre of the investigation.His only clue is a massive dildo. He enlists the help of a passionate chemist named Crimea River. Can River help Transmission overcome his absinthe addiction and find the answers before the deceitful killer and his deadly samurai sword strike again? | ||
**** And what literature major wouldn't want to read the lost collaboration of all three Bronte sisters, the immortal The Humid Moors? | ||
Harold Angel is a gentle and calm orphan raised by a brash and egotistical stockbroker. Eventually he gets a job working as a psychiatrist for the determined Lady Leventhal of Leventhal Condo. The unlikely couple rapidly succumb to a obsessive passion. On the day of their wedding, a rude hockey player escapes from the attic of Leventhal Condo and starts a fire. Believing that Lady Leventhal is dead, Harold flees from the church and wanders the humid moors for days until he is rescued by a collected janitor. However, although Lady Leventhal is blinded by the fire, she still breathes. Without Harold she becomes selfish and boastful. She turns to alcohol for comfort. The ghost of the hockey player from the attic haunts her. Meanwhile, thinking Lady Leventhal is dead, Harold accepts a marriage proposal from his saviour, the janitor. However, one night he believes he can hear Lady Leventhal calling, "Harold, where are you? Harold come home!" and he returns to Leventhal Condo. On Harold's return, he finds Lady Leventhal drunk and without sight. Mistaking him for the ghost of the rude hockey player, she attacks him with a bowie knife and Harold Angel dies. As she attends to the body, Lady Leventhal realises what she has done. Driven mad with guilt, she hatches a plan to destroy the next generation, but there is no next generation and she dies of consumption two weeks later. | ||
**** Here are just a few of the plot-lines I generated on Warpcore. [I think it’s “Warpcore.” I can’t keep them all straight, actually.] | ||
1. A unscrupulous warlord is being pursued in a heavily monitored mountain. His sister is driven mad by a foul time traveller. With the help of a smart mutant, he must raise an army in order to avert disaster and save his family. 2. A lonely pilot is facing death in a post-apocalyptic brothel. His planet is destroyed by a small meteor. With the help of a charming robot, he must make the ultimate sacrifice in order to save his future. 3. An optimistic primitive is causing a disturbance in a windswept moon. His leaders are destroyed by a deadly earthquake. With the help of an athletic alien, he must destroy a predatory alien in order to save his friends. | ||
Who’s That Shady Character? I should point out that Seventh Sanctum also has a character generator that actually may be really useful. For example, some of the characters it generated for me were: | ||
1. He is a 146 year old werebeast with yellow skin and bushy fur. Born to criminals during a famine, he was taught to hold a gun as a child the war broke out. He is interested in quantum physics and theories of everything and can smell emotions. He is unconventional, over-friendly and extremist. 2. He is a fairy with ash-grey skin, greasy hair and emerald eyes. He is 30 years old, young by the standards of his race. Born to an idiot and a weakling on a brigantine in the Caribbean, he was made to work in the fields when young. He loves to swim and practices necromancy. He is unimaginative, attention-seeking and right wing. 3. He is a genetically improved human with alabaster skin, straight, jet hair and ice blue eyes. He is 126 years old. Born to farmers in a factory, he was sent to boarding school as a child before becoming radicalized. He wields a laser and refuses to touch meat. He is self-restrained, loving and overconfident. 4. He is a half-elf with alabaster skin, straight, jet hair and ice blue eyes. He is 144 years old. Born to a family of pariahs in a slum, he was adopted as a child before happening on a lucky find. He is a vegetarian and hates getting dirty. He is smart, rude and angry. 5. He is an immortal spirit with a brutal left-hook. He was once a free man. He prefers to live in the plains. 6. She is a 108-year-old werebeast with translucent skin and light fur. Born to a whore in Norman times, she was ordered to carry out domestic chores when young before marrying and then divorcing a dangerous lunatic. She brews herbal remedies and has a coven of followers. She is unconventional, nervous around new people and morbid. 7. She is a demon with cold green skin. She is 510 years old. Born to a family of pariahs in Norman times, she was left on the streets when young before happening on a lucky find. She plays the lute inexpertly and keeps a pet snake. She is picky, an extrovert and moody. 8. She is a half-elf with alabaster skin, a shaved head and ice blue eyes. She is 213 years old. Born to refugees in a castle, she was expected to achieve great things when young before plague ravaged the population. She plays the harp and sleeps too little. She is brave, vicious and self-assured. 9. She is a human with caramel skin, aged 82. She has straight, white hair and toffee-brown eyes. Born to a tribe of pirates on a distant planet, she was made to work in a factory as a child before starting a business that failed. She wants to explore the Oort Cloud and speaks Ant and Bee. She is hard-working, attention-seeking and capricious. 10. She is a human with tanned skin, aged 33. She has straight blonde hair and blue-grey eyes. Born to a family of clerics in a small town, she was neglected when young before joining the army. She plays the harp and can smell emotions. She is driven, over-friendly and naive. 11. She is a mutant with flaking skin, long, tangled hair and violet eyes. She is 66 years old. Born to a couple of scientists after the assassination of Queen Victoria, she was apprenticed to a gamekeeper as a child before marrying into money. She wields a sword-cane and is terrified of peculiar things. She is organized, dresses ostentatiously and overconfident. | ||
Some Plot Generators: | ||
So have some fun and if anyone actually writes and publishes a story from a generated premise, please let me know. | ||
Hilary DePiano’s Web Page <http://www.hillarydepiano.com/2010/03/09/random-plot-generators-for-writers-block-a-laugh/> | ||
<http://www.scriptfrenzy.org/> | ||
<http://www.seventhsanctum.com/generate.php> | ||
Plot Generator < http://plot-generator.org.uk> |
Monday, April 23, 2012
The Plot Thickens or Sickens, It Depends
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment